If you’ve recently seen “Dr Strangelove” or you’re watching along with my year of movies, please leave a comment below with your thoughts on the movie or note down your opinion somewhere else.

63 movies down. 302 to go.

If you want to get “Dr Strangelove” from Amazon, here is a link for that. They probably have the movie many other places too. Maybe it’s on a streaming service you subscribe to already?

Tomorrow’s movie is “Star wars: Episode IV – A new hope”. Get some more information about this movie and the other movies on my watch list this week on the upcoming movies page. If you’re new to this site and are wondering why I’m watching a movie every day for a year, read more about my experiment.

A stagecoach filled with a variety of characters from the old west must make a drive through Apache threatened country. Along the way the passengers and driver all get to know one another and the people at various way stations.

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This is a proper old western with every element that brings to mind; old vengeance, damsels in distress, six shooters, hookers, Winchesters, Indians on the war path, lots of horses, and so much more.

“Stagecoach” has a some similarities with a play; the characters are thrown together, must relate to one another and that provokes developments for at least some of them. On the other hand, there is a lot of action in the movie that would have been difficult on a stage; the constantly moving coach and, not to give anything away, all those guns might get some use. The combo of the two types of movements is a rather nice juxtaposition. I would have expected the silent or stoic men of the old west to have less development and the women to have more passive roles and maybe any changes would be more dependent on men. Fortunately there is more to this movie.

The characters are made to be contrasting and represent several rungs in society. There is a banker that goes on about how “What’s good for the banks is good for the country”, a lawman looking for an escaped prisoner, a prisoner looking for revenge, a drunken old doctor, a gambling old officer, a whiskey salesman, a prostitute, a fancy officer’s wife and the coach driver. Together these provide both humor and some nice drama.

The first part of the movie sees everyone get on the coach, but after that it is all about the journey. The coach and the story moves along at quite the pace, and both the coach and the emotional developments get a little overloaded.

Contemplations

The acting is of amazing quality and all the nine main characters were portrayed well. It is rare to see an ensemble cast of such a high caliber. (Pardon the pun.)

The footage and direction was also nice and served the story well. The audio was slightly less suitable though. The music was overly dramatic, during almost any scene, regardless of content or mood. The Spanish song they hear at one of the way stations was really nice though.

The story has some good qualities and some bad. As mentioned, the story is surprisingly meaningful with well developed characters. However, it is somewhat naive and without too many twists. Regardless, it is a well made western with the legendary John Wayne and a whole slew of other great actors.

Judgement

I liked “Stagecoach” and was pleasantly surprised by the western genre. It might not have the depth I usually look for in a movie, but much more than expected.

Epilogue

I would recommend “Stagecoach” to all adults. It is well worth seeing a good old western with John Wayne at least once in a lifetime.

Over to you

If you’ve recently seen “Stagecoach” or you’re watching along with my year of movies, please leave a comment below with your thoughts on the movie or note down your opinion somewhere else.

53 movies down. 312 to go.

If you want to get “Stagecoach” from Amazon, here is a link for that. They probably have the movie many other places too. Maybe it’s on a streaming service you subscribe to already?

Tomorrow’s movie is “Snatch”. Get some more information about this movie and the other movies on my watch list this week on the upcoming movies page. If you’re new to this site and are wondering why I’m watching a movie every day for a year, read more about my experiment.

Durga and her younger brother Apu, grow up in an impoverished family with their mother as the caretaker, their old auntie as a dependent and their father as an inefficient breadwinner. What will happen when their father goes away to earn money?

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All the descriptions I have read about this movie, claims that it is about Apu, but all the action centers abound Durga and her mother Sarbojaya. These descriptions might be in deference to the two subsequent movies in the trilogy, which is about Apu’s later life.

Also, the name of the movie is sometimes given in English as “Song of the little road”, but it seems to be mostly referred to as “Pather Panchali”. I have used both names.

The action in “Pather Panchali” takes place in the 1910’s and we see a few hints of influence of the British in the movie, such as tattered old uniforms on a brass band, but it is not a feature. Most of the action takes place in the courtyard of the families house, and the woods just outside. There is plenty of evidence that the family is dirt poor, both in action and surroundings. Their house is almost falling down, their clothes are worn to rags, and they struggle to have daily food. One dream is to have several meals each day.

Contemplations

“Pather Panchali” is beautifully made, with plenty of scenes that makes me wish that this wasn’t a black and white movie. The audio was a bit crackly on the copy that I saw, but that’s not necessarily true for all copies. The music set the tone for the region, and underscored what was dramatic, fun or everyday quite well. I also liked the songs of old Auntie Indir.

The acting of the female characters are amazing, and they inhabit their roles in such a way that I have a lot of empathy with the women in the movie. That is partly due to the story, but the acting is still on another level than what I’ve seen in other movies about poverty in the third world this month, such as “A river called Titas” and “Manila in the claws of light“.

The direction and the story is also of much better quality than these two movies. The imagery is strong and underscores the difficulties the family faces. This might stem from the book the movie is based on; “Pather Panchali” by Bibhutibhushan Bandyopadhyay, and I am interested enough in this story to put the book on my reading list.

The story is powerful and simple; the struggle to survive while being the poorest in the village and the breadwinner is more of a dreamer than an earner. The women have little recourse but to accept his decisions.

Judgement

I am glad to have seen this movie, and I would not mind seeing it again. I will try to find the time to see the two following movies in the Apu trilogy; “Aparajito” and “The world of Apu”.

Epilogue

I would recommend this movie to anyone. It is a difficult story to watch at times, but there is also a lot of joy over being a child and playing.

Over to you

If you’ve recently seen “Song of the little road” or you’re watching along with my year of movies, please leave a comment below with your thoughts on the movie or note down your opinion somewhere else.

50 movies down. 315 to go.

If you want to get “Pather Panchali” from Amazon (with English subtitles), here is a link for that. They only have the movie as part of the whole trilogy about Apu, but that might not be the worst idea. They probably have the movie many other places too. Maybe it’s on a streaming service you subscribe to already?

Tomorrow’s movie is “The shining”. Get some more information about this movie and the other movies on my watch list this week on the upcoming movies page. If you’re new to this site and are wondering why I’m watching a movie every day for a year, read more about my experiment.

Jan Baalsrud is part of the resistance during the Nazi occupation of Norway. During an operation all the other saboteurs are killed or captured, so Jan must get himself to safety, and the only place he can get away from the constant German patrols are in Sweden.

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“Nine lives” is based on a true story. If not, I would have found the tale unbelievable. Crossing the 200 km from Rebbensøya to the Swedish border would be quite a feat even in full health, with sturdy equipment and no one chasing you. Even springtime that far north of the Polar Circle offers harrowing weather conditions and the terrain across the mountains to the border is only for the more experienced hiker.

I have plotted an approximation of Jan Baalsrud’s route, as it is a bit confusing in the movie where he is and why he keeps having to use boats. His route is about the distance from London to Cardiff for reference.

And that is one of the movies weaknesses, we never quite know where Jan Baalsrud is. We are either supposed to know this information already, or it is supposed to not matter. I just kept wondering where he was throughout the movie. (So I tried to help other potential viewers by making a map. Take a look before the movie, no need to memorize anything, just get an overview, and rest assured, there are no spoilers in the map.)

Most of the “Nine lives” depicts the journey from the moment Jan Baalsrud is alone until he reaches Sweden, although there is a framing story where he tells his story to an official from the Norwegian government. This framing is very brief and doesn’t impact the movie much. Which is lucky as it falls flat and the big moment where Baalsrud gets respect for what he did just seems silly.

Contemplations

“Nine lives” is naturally a bit dated in some ways as it is now 60 years old, but for the most part it held my attention and told a story well. It is a shame that the beautiful landscapes in the area are shown in black and white, but the photography is otherwise excellent.

The resistance movement during the war might not be well exemplified by such an extraordinary feat, but all the help Baalsrud received does show a more general part of history. This makes the story more important than just one lone guy’s survival.

The acting is great in all the parts, and the only little annoyance I had with the movie was the overly dramatic music during the travel scenes.

Judgement

“Nine lives” is a good movie, but maybe not something to watch often.

Epilogue

I would recommend “Nine lives” to anyone, it is both good and important in some ways. Not a bad idea to watch it once.

Over to you

If you’ve recently seen “Nine lives” or you’re watching along with my year of movies, please leave a comment below with your thoughts on the movie or note down your opinion somewhere else.

47 movies down. 318 to go.

If you want to get “Nine lives” from Amazon, here is a link for that. They probably have the movie many other places too. Maybe it’s on a streaming service you subscribe to already?

Tomorrow’s movie is “The celebration”. Get some more information about this movie and the other movies on my watch list this week on the upcoming movies page. If you’re new to this site and are wondering why I’m watching a movie every day for a year, read more about my experiment.

A young woman marries a visitor from a nearby village, but on the way to his village she is kidnapped and forgets all details about her husband. Ten years later she remembers the name of her husband’s village and travels there.

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The beginning of this story was confusing to me, the young woman got married without any preamble, and there was nothing leading up to the wedding. We saw the bridegroom talking with his friend, and through the conversation we learn that he is clearly single and has no particular plans for marriage. Then some people talk about fetching him, and then; a wedding.

After that the story moves from one scene to the next without anything that seems like a hole in the story.

Most of the movie is set after the young bride comes to her mystery husbands fishing village, and we follow many of the people she gets to know there. The story moves from one family and gives a look at their problems, to the next family or person. No one is the sole focus of the story and we see many heart breaking and touching little episodes, all made difficult by the extreme poverty in the village.

A large driving force in everyone’s life is food. They all live from hand to mouth and the river, Titas, where they fish is their source of food, and a little income when they have something to sell. “A river called Titas” shows the choices and struggles made necessary by having little or nothing, and the destruction of village society. A new time is ushered in with no place for village people.

The movie paints what I think is a stark and realistic look at poverty, but not really having experienced a lack of anything, I have had to rely on other’s evaluation of that aspect of the movie.

The stories are touching and even if we don’t get to know all the characters equally well, we do come to care for them. I think the writer of this movie, and the others behind it, must have known the region well and cared for it’s people.

Contemplations

The technical aspects of “A river called Titas” is surprisingly good, and the camerawork can rival many modern high budget movies. Some parts of the film seemed to be overexposed or something like that, but that could be age damage. The only strange thing was a long close up of people’s faces when they had a dramatic moment.

The Bechdel test was not performed for “A river called Titas” on the Bechdel test site, but I think it passes the test. An example of a scene that has two named female characters talking about something other than men, is near the end where Basanti and another woman discuss the past and their fights as youngsters. (For more about the Bechdel test, read my post about women in movies.)

Judgement

I liked most of the movie, the beginning was as mentioned somewhat strange, but the rest was a hard look at poverty and how privileged I am. That is not something I wish to do often, but being a little shaken out of my bubble is good for the soul. I am glad I watched “A river called Titas”, but it will be a while til I watch it again.

Epilogue

“A river called Titas” can be watched by anyone as a look at poverty and touching stories, but it is not light entertainment. For an evening where a few good jokes does not seem enough, this is a movie I can recommend.

Over to you

If you’ve recently seen “A river called Titas” or you’re watching along with my year of movies, please leave a comment below with your thoughts on the movie or note down your opinion somewhere else.

44 movies down. 321 to go.

If you want to get “A river called Titas” from Amazon, here is a link for that. They might have the movie other places too.

Tomorrow’s movie is “Manila in the claws of light”. Get some more information about this movie and the other movies on my watch list this week on the upcoming movies page. If you’re new to this site and are wondering why I’m watching a movie every day for a year, read more about my experiment.

A middle aged man is accused of murder and he hires the best lawyer available. The lawyer will hopefully have the health to see the court case through to the end.

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This is a classical murder mystery and it is a good one, mostly due to the acting and the funny, strange and flawed characters.

I had never seen Marlene Dietrich in anything before, but as most others I have heard the many stories about her (some of them are on her wikipedia page). Her screen presence did not disappoint. Her beauty was special and captivating, the personality of her character came across quite clearly and her renowned status as a WW2 entertainer is even put to use in a scene. I like the movie just because I got to see this legend in action.

Contemplations

The cinematography and sound was suitable for a mostly courtroom drama, and did not stand out overly much.

The actors all had both comedic timing and dramatic talent witch made the shifts between funny and more serious moments natural. However the comedy was based on stereotypes and simple gags that made it seem somewhat old fashioned. It was funny though. At least as long as I chose to overlook the more dated elements.

The story was good and somewhat less superficial then what I expect from Agatha Christie. But all the quirks and strangeness of her more famous detectives, such as Miss Marple and Poirot, were delightfully present. After reading a few of her books (I believe, sometime in my teens), it seemed that I knew what one of her crime stories would contain; detective called in or on vacation, either impossible crime or seemingly none or endless amount of suspects, or at least a “whodunit”, a few minor observations buried on page 259 (or there about) and finally, the detective gathers everyone and slowly, oh so slowly, reveals the murderer. Even though this is an Agatha Christie story, do not expect the typical structure or progression. This is a courtroom drama, and not a “roaming detective” story.

Judgement

I liked this movie. There were some of the small annoyances that I have come to expect from a movie from this era, but it was a few hours well spent.

Epilogue

I would recommend “Witness for the prosecution” to a friend, and no qualifiers or caveats needed, except standard age restrictions. (In this case children under 13 should probably not see the movie.)

Over to you

If you’ve recently seen “Witness for the prosecution” or you’re watching along with my year of movies, please leave a comment below with your thoughts on the movie or note down your opinion somewhere else.

33 movies down. 332 to go.

If you want to get “Witness for the prosecution” from Amazon, here is a link for that. They probably have the movie many other places too. Maybe it’s on a streaming service you subscribe to already?

Tomorrow’s movie is “Scarface“. Get some more information about this movie and the other movies on my watch list this week on the upcoming movies page. If you’re new to this site and are wondering why I’m watching a movie every day for a year, read more about my experiment.

Princess Ann is on an European goodwill tour when she decides to escape her aides and the press to have a care free adventure and experience the life of an ordinary woman. When the man she has her adventure with turns out to be a member of the press, the problems pile up.

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“Introducing Audrey Hepburn” the title sequence to the movie said, so I assume this is her first big role. She does really well as a gracious and spoiled princess with little to no freedom.

I have been most the places in Rome where the characters go sightseeing and I must admit to some jealousy. I have never seen these sights so accessible and void of other tourists. Was it like that in the early 50’s? Or was that staged for the movie?

Contemplations

The music was a bit more dramatic then the scenes called for at times. As if the mood or feeling of a scene was forced upon me, and not conveyed by actions or words. The same way spooky music over a video of someone taking an ordinary walk in the woods will make the clip scary. Illustrated by James Gordon below with the “X-files”-music.

In “Roman holiday” the music doesn’t try to make the mood scary, but dramatic, and yet it just seems forced. Except for a few instances of overly dramatic music, the audio was nice.

The visuals were super. I love Rome, and so I also loved to watch all the scenes set in famous and well known places in the city. The plot uses all the beauty of Rome to create great visuals and the characters are naturally in these places. It does not seem staged, as could easily be the case when a city is shown off in a movie.

The acting was just fine through most the movie, and at times it was quite a bit more then that. Several solid performances. Probably a good debut for Audrey Hepburn.

The story a bit better then the average romantic comedy, but still, it’s hardly likely to make you think or contemplate the nature of humanity.

Judgement

“Roman holiday” was an entertaining movie without much of a message or deeper meaning. I liked watching it, and sometimes it is fine to just be entertained for a little while. The movie makes no pretense of being more then it is, and so makes a nice contribution to it’s genre. I don’t see how it has made a “best movies ever” list though.

Epilogue

I would recommend this movie to anyone looking for some light entertainment on a rainy afternoon.

Over to you

If you’ve recently seen “Roman Holiday” or you’re watching along with my year of movies, please leave a comment below with your thoughts on the movie or note down your opinion somewhere else.

32 movies down. 333 to go.

If you want to get “Roman holiday” from Amazon, here is a link for that. They probably have the movie many other places too. Maybe it’s on a streaming service you subscribe to already?

Tomorrow’s movie is “Witness for the prosecution“. Get some more information about this movie and the other movies on my watch list this week on the upcoming movies page. If you’re new to this site and are wondering why I’m watching a movie every day for a year, read more about my experiment.

Giorgio Manfredi is part of the resistance during the Nazi occupation of Rome. He searches for a place to hide and not put anyone else at risk.

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“Rome, open city” was made just after the war ended and I assume the story and visuals are quite close to reality. That is maybe the most interesting part of this movie. Not that the rest is bad, but I was fascinated by seeing Rome in 1945 and how someone from this time would tell a story about the war.

Contemplations

With this month’s focus on how scenes come together to tell the story and makes shifts in the plot line, I think this movie does a great job in this way. The long scenes bring changes in the tension and ups the stakes, while shorter scenes sets up these longer ones. Maybe that is what I will see in most movies, but in this first one where I focus a little on this, that is what I noticed.

The story it self in “Rome, open city” is a little predictable, but shows well different fates of resistance fighters from many places in Europe, and maybe elsewhere. The acting was also good, but a little stereotypical. I am starting to see a trend in acting. It was a little bit more dramatic and stereotypical during the 30’s to 50’s, so that might be why I find the acting a bit larger than life.

Judgement

I liked the movie, but mostly because I was fascinated by the smaller scenes and their glimpses of daily life and scenery of Rome during the war. It wasn’t as good as the different best movies ever list implies, but still not a waste of time.

Epilogue

Don’t think I would recommend “Rome, open city”, it was a little too obvious.

Over to you

If you’ve recently seen “Rome, open city” or you’re watching along with my year of movies, please leave a comment below with your thoughts on the movie or note down your opinion somewhere else.

31 movies down. 334 to go.

If you want to get “Rome, open city” from Amazon, here is a link for that. They probably have the movie many other places too. Maybe it’s on a streaming service you subscribe to already?

Tomorrow’s movie is “Roman holiday“. Get some more information about this movie and the other movies on my watch list this week on the upcoming movies page. If you’re new to this site and are wondering why I’m watching a movie every day for a year, read more about my experiment.

Martha and George come home from a dinner party and has invited over a younger couple for late night drinks. As the night goes on, it is unclear for the two younger ones if the older couples troubles and strangeness is what the future holds for them as well.

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This has so far in my experiment been the most difficult movie for me to watch. The sheer pain and raw emotion in Elisabeth Taylor’s performance got to me, and I had to have a good cry after watching “Who’s afraid of Virginia Woolf?”. It even took me some time before I could write about it.

The movie is a play performed on screen, rather than stage, and that is evident throughout. I would have expected that to make the movie stale and constructed, but it is entertaining and seems dynamic, albeit gut wrenching.

Contemplations

The story is well written and the dialogue is probably a reflection of the time. It did seem a bit old fashioned now, but that might not have been the case at the time. The audio and visuals were as expected from this era and did not intrude on the storytelling.

What makes this movie worth watching is the acting of the two women, Elisabeth Taylor and Sandy Dennis. They are simply superb. The two men are not half bad either, but it is the females that are the stars of this movie. (No wonder they both got Oscars for these performances.)

Each of the two women have a sorrow or shame in their life and they express and attempt to deal with their issues in different manners. Through this night of heavy drinking where we follow these two couples, the viewers slowly gain more insight to what these issues are.

To some extent I can say I share the issues of both these women, as can many others, and while I deal with this in completely different ways, seeing Martha’s and Honey’s pain on display for 2 hours and 11 minutes was hard.

Judgement

“Who’s afraid of Virginia Woolf” is a good movie with relevant problems for people today, and it is a wonderful piece of acting. I will hopefully not watch it again soon, but that is just because it spoke quite loudly to me.

Epilogue

I would recommend this movie to anyone, but I would also warn any potential viewers that it might be painful to see this night of revelation for four ordinarily flawed people.

Over to you

If you’ve recently seen “Who’s afraid of Virginia Woolf” or you’re watching along with my year of movies, please leave a comment below with your thoughts on the movie or note down your opinion somewhere else.

30 movies down. 335 to go.

If you want to get “Who’s afraid of Virginia Woolf” from Amazon, here is a link for that. They probably have the movie many other places too. Maybe it’s on a streaming service you subscribe to already?

Tomorrow’s movie is “Rome, open city” or “Roma città aperta”. Get some more information about this movie and the other movies on my watch list this week on the upcoming movies page. If you’re new to this site and are wondering why I’m watching a movie every day for a year, read more about my experiment.

Six year old Scout and ten year old Jem live with their father who is defending a black man accused of raping a white woman. There are many strong feelings surrounding this crime and trial in their small southern village in 1936. The two children experience some of what is going on in the adult’s world.

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What a lovely look at childhood and a truly healthy reminder of many nice details of what I did as a child. Of course these children had other specific experiences than I did, but in general there were many reminders of childhood activities.

I was initially apprehensive about a serious movie set in depression era US, but the movie focused on the children and their world. It was filled with the innocence and play of children, and I, as a viewer, was taken into their experience of the world. Very interesting and childlike, even if the subject matter was quite heavy and serious at times.

Contemplations

The acting was remarkable. Specially Scout (Mary Badham) was good in her role. Mary Badham was nominated for an Oscar as best actress in a supporting role for her performance, but I felt Scout was the main character. Regardless, she was a central character and did a wonderful job.

Usually when there is a storyteller in a movie, a voice that explains or expands on what is shown on screen, I think it is a cheap or lazy trick to get the story across. This time the voice of an older Scout explains some things that would not be evident to a child, or she foreshadows larger events. It is not used as an alternative to filming the actual story. So, in this case I did not mind the storyteller.

The story is maybe not the most original, but the way it is told, the way it is seen through the eyes of children, is quite remarkable. All the adult ways of explaining things with “the situation is nuanced” or “its complicated”, simply doesn’t work with children. For them the world just is, and it is either something that should be changed or not. It is a great way of talking about racism. It isn’t complicated or nuanced, it just shouldn’t be.

Judgement

I really liked this movie, and as in a few other cases, I now want to read the book this movie was based on. If you want to get the book, here is “To kill a mockingbird” by Harper Lee on Amazon, but I do think most libraries will have it. For me though, this book is so important I want to own a copy.

Epilogue

I think “To kill a mockingbird” is a great movie with an important message that would keep anyone entertained.

Over to you

If you’ve recently seen “To kill a mockingbird” or you’re watching along with my year of movies, please leave a comment below with your thoughts on the movie or note down your opinion somewhere else.

25 movies down. 340 to go.

If you want to get “To kill a mockingbird” from Amazon, here is a link for that. They probably have the movie many other places too. Maybe it’s on a streaming service you subscribe to already?

Tomorrow’s movie is “The sting“. Get some more information about this movie and the other movies on my watch list this week on the upcoming movies page. If you’re new to this site and are wondering why I’m watching a movie every day for a year, read more about my experiment.